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Originally Posted by NotforSale
Third, still no one has really given a valid scope on what Jesus said about what is God's. Jesus compared what is God's to that which is Ceaser's. And, Jesus was referring to MONEY when dealing with this. And, this was in the New Testament. And, a Tax is a percentage. And, Jesus was very candid in talking about MONEY in the Gospels.
If God's portion is compared to that of Ceaser's, the Tax being required (Jesus paid taxes according to the Law of the land), the Tithe also belongs to God. What other measuring gauge is in the Bible regarding what is God's?
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A reasonable request. For reference here is the cited passage.
Matthew 22:15 ¶ Then went the Pharisees, and took counsel how they might ensnare him in his talk.
16 And they send to him their disciples, with the Herodians, saying, Teacher, we know that thou art true, and teachest the way of God in truth, and carest not for any one: for thou regardest not the person of men.
17 Tell us therefore, What thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not?
18 But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, Why make ye trial of me, ye hypocrites?
19 Show me the tribute money. And they brought unto him a (1) denarius.
20 And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription?
21 They say unto him, Caesar's. Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's.
22 And when they heard it, they marvelled, and left him, and went away.
First we have the conspiracy to trap Jesus in “his talk”. History: There was a major political split between the Pharisees and the Herodians. The Pharisees stood opposed to the Roman rule while the Herodians supported it. This alliance between opposing political parties was not the last of such collaboration. The opposing religious parties, the Pharisees and the Sadducees also joined forces to eliminate Jesus.
Object: In this passage the object was to get Jesus to commit to one political position or the other, thereby causing him to loose the support of one group of people or the other, thereby wreaking his over all popularity and influence. That is, it would be easer to mount a public supported attack against him, causing confusion, the taking of sides, and deflecting his message from the spiritual realm back to the political arena. It didn’t really matter which side Jesus chose, both the Pharisees and the Herodians were looking for any way possible to silence Jesus. [Note, when this didn’t work, it was the two opposing religious groups that joined together for the same purpose.]
So, the question was put to Jesus, “Tell us therefore, What thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not?” Obviously there is no right answer to this trick question.
Note: Taxes to the king were sometimes referred to as attribute,
Nehemiah 5:4, which, if paid to a foreign king, could be interpreted as recognizing that king, i.e., Caesar, to be the lawful king of the Jews. Caesar was considered by Rome to be a god, and every one was ordered to worship (regard) him as one. So we have both the political and religious aspects at play here. Therefore, we have the question of the law:
Not to worship idols in the manner they are worshiped or as God is to be worshiped
Ex. 20:5-6
Jesus, seeing right through the deception identified the focus, and the weakness of the trap: Tribute money.
And, we have the famous answer, “Render therefore unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's.” Tribute money goes to kings, such as Caesar, not to God.
While the Jews had a king in name only, Rome ruled the Jews, and Jesus identified that king, Caesar. Therefore, give the king’s tribute (the king’s money) to the king. But to God, give to Him the things that are His alone: the sacrifice of worship, love and obedience, the substance of which is found in one’s heart, not their purse.
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If God's portion is compared to that of Ceaser's, the Tax being required (Jesus paid taxes according to the Law of the land), the Tithe also belongs to God. What other measuring gauge is in the Bible regarding what is God's?
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Jesus was not comparing the two "portions", he separate the two from each other, for it was the combining of the two (Caesar's "tribute coin" and God's worship - there is no coin that has the image of God on it) that is what the trap was designed to exploit.
Added note: This teaching of Jesus would also appear to preclude the use of a Roman coin from being used for the paying of tithes. Plus, every reference to tithing made by Jesus, he never included money. Ah, but the love of money (wealth), that is another story all together.
Did this help? Or, did I just make a muck of it?
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